Where You Belong
by StoriesFromEngland
Summary: RE-UPLOADED WITH SOME CHANGES! Slightly AU. Emma Swan is 27 years old when she gets hired to go to Storybrooke to find someone. Who hired her and why? Who will she meet along the way? Is Storybrooke all that it seems or more?
1. Chapter 1

Emma Swan had been driving for nearly four hours and still hadn't seen one road sign for Storybrooke. What kind of a name was Storybrooke anyway she thought. When she'd looked it up online there was no information or maps of the town so she was slightly sceptical towards taking the job. All she knew was that it was located in Maine so that's where she had headed. It was coming up to 6pm so Emma was hungry but didn't want to stop until she got there, she was close to giving up and turning back around when she finally saw it. A green sign with large white lettering saying 'Welcome To Storybrooke'.

'Finally' she sighed and began to follow the winding road that led her into the town of Storybrooke. Emma wasn't due to meet her client until the following day so knew that she needed to find a place to stay. She slowed her driving down so that she was able to see the signs above the shops and other buildings hoping to locate a B&amp;B or motel. After driving through what seemed to be the main part of town she finally found a quaint place called Granny's so parked her yellow bug and stepped out grabbing her overnight bag to take with her. Emma hadn't bothered to pack a whole suitcase as she was hoping to finish the job quite quickly. Stepping inside Granny's B&amp;B she looked around at the decor, it looked quite homely she thought as she stepped up to the front desk to ring the bell.

'How may I help you?' a young girl with dark hair with vibrant red streaks asked as she ran down the stairs

'I'd like a room please' Emma told her as the girl walked around the desk

'Really? I mean sure, I'm Ruby'

'Emma'

'So Emma would you like a forest view or a square view?'

'Square's fine thanks'

'How long are you staying for?'

'Just a week should do it I think'

'Okay here's your key to room 4. I hope you enjoy your stay'

'Thank you' Emma smiled and headed up to her room. It was larger than she thought it would be which was a pleasant surprise for Emma who was used to having to work out of her car more often than not. She unpacked her clothes before sitting down on the bed and beginning to look over the file for the job that she had been taken.

She had been hired by a Mr Mills. He had hired Emma to find a woman that he had been searching for over the past few months, he had not told her why yet but he told her that he would explain all the details when they meet in person. All Emma knew was that the woman would be about 26/27 by now and that she used to live in Boston. Emma's forehead screwed up, this wasn't really much to go on, the description could fit a hell of a lot of people, so knew that she needed to find out more, but found herself questioning how hard could it be to find someone in a town like Storybrooke, it surely didn't look too big. She wrote down the questions that she would need to ask tomorrow and decided to put the file away. It wouldn't help looking over it anymore, she decided to go and find something to eat, and she had drove past a diner on her way here so thought that she would try there.

'Is everything okay with your room Emma?' Ruby asked when she saw Emma walking past the reception desk.

'Oh yes it's fine thank you'

'I forgot to tell you that there's a diner down the street, my Granny owns it as well as here so if you show your room key when you're there you get a discount on the food you order'

'Okay thank you' Emma said as she pulled her jacket tighter around her. The wind had picked up so she hurried towards the diner when it started to rain 'Great' she moaned, keeping her head down to avoid the rain when she crashed into someone.

Emma looked up and saw that she had knocked their coffee all over her shirt 'OW! Shit' she said as the coffee soaked her shirt and burnt her skin

'Are you okay?'

'Yeah it's just a bit hot, it's my fault I wasn't looking where I was going'

'No it was mine, who runs with a hot coffee' the stranger smiled 'Listen I'm in a rush but I'll see you around' he said running off

'Hey what's your name?' Emma called

'Jack!'

* * *

The next morning came quicker than Emma had wanted, she loved her sleep and could have done with at least another hour but knew that she had to get ready to meet her client. She pulled on her jeans, vest top and red leather jacket before grabbing the file and heading out of the door. She found the address 108 Mifflin St. and headed off to make sure that she got there in time and didn't get lost. Emma pulled up outside a huge white house

'Jeez, must be rich' she commented before climbing out of her car and heading up towards the door and knocking. Whilst she waited for someone to answer she couldn't help but looking around the gardens, taking in as much as she could. This was a habit that Emma had picked up as a young child. When you move from foster home to foster home as frequently as Emma had then you learn to pick up on the little details that can tell you a lot about a person.

'Hello' a boy of about 9/10 said as he pulled open the large, white front door

'Hi there, my names Emma Swan and I'm her to meet with a Mr Mills. Is he here?'

'Sure come on in' he said opening the door wider to let her pass 'Go straight ahead into the dining room'

Emma sat down on one of the chairs and placed the folder in front of her when the young boy followed her in 'So is Mr Mills upstairs or...'

'I'm Mr Mills' the boy said taking a seat at the table

'What?' Emma asked confused 'You're Mr Mills?'

'Henry'

'And you're the one who hired me?'

'That's right' Henry smiled, looking pleased with himself

'Kid look, I don't know what's going on here but I have to go' Emma sighed walking towards the door, she was pissed at herself for taking a job that ended up being a waste of time.

'I hired you to find my mom!' Henry told her causing Emma to stop in her tracks, turning round to look at the kid and seeing the pain in his eyes that she was used to seeing growing up around unwanted children.

'Your mom?'

'Yes my birth mom. I'm adopted you see but I want to meet my real mom'

'Henry, are you still here? I forgot my purse, who are you?' A tall brunette wearing a grey suit asked when she saw Emma 'and what are you doing talking to my son, in my house?'

'I'm Emma Swan, there seems to have been a misunderstanding, I think we should talk'

'Please sit down. Henry go upstairs and finish your homework'

'But mom'

'No buts' Henry sulked out the room 'I'm Regina by the way, now explain'

'I was hired to find someone by a Mr Mills, I had no idea that it was your son that hired me I thought that it was an adult which is why I came here. I should explain that I specialise in finding people'

'And who was it that he hired you to find?'

'His mother. Well his birth mother'

'I see. You can't carry on with this job Miss Swan'

'I know that' Emma scoffed 'As soon as I found out that it was your son had hired me, I knew that I couldn't continue with the case'

'So I guess you won't be staying in Storybrooke much longer then, now that this turned out to be a bust?'

'No I won't be why?'

'Just curious, you see we don't get many people coming here'

'Probably because it's so hard to find'

'Yes that must be it.'

As Emma got in her car to drive away from the Mills household, she looked in her rear view window and saw Henry looking disheartened at his bedroom window. She saw the sorrow in his eyes, she knew better than anyone how hard it was growing up not knowing who your parents are and why they wouldn't want you but knew that it would be wrong to take the case. Emma couldn't shake the feeling that something was not quite right in this small town and truly felt for Henry but couldn't wait to get the hell out of there and start a real job.


	2. Chapter 2

Emma unlocked her car and climbed in but when she tried to start the engine it made a clunking noise and steam rose from the hood 'Great!' Emma climbed out and opened the hood of her car, she had no idea what she was looking for but it didn't look good in there. Emma pushed the hood back down and started walking back to the town square hoping that she would be able to find a mechanic. Emma debated going back and knocking on the Mills door to ask for a mechanics number but could already imagine how well another conversation with Regina would go.

Emma had been walking for ages but couldn't find anyone so decided she needed to ask for directions 'Excuse me' she called running up to the first person she could find

'Yes'

'Hi, I'm looking for a mechanic, my car broke down and I have no idea where to find one'

'You need to take a left here and walk for about 10 minutes or I could give you a ride if you like'

'Are you sure?'

'Of course'

'Thank you'

'I'm Mary Margaret by the way. I haven't seen you around before have I?'

'No, I got here yesterday' Emma answered as she climbed into the passenger seat of Mary Margaret's car

'Really?'

'You seem shocked!'

'It's just we don't get many people come here'

'Yeah I'm getting that impression' Emma's unsettled feeling about this town resurfaced again, why was everyone shocked to find someone visiting their town? They both sat in silence for the rest of the way until Mary Margaret offered to stay and wait in her car in order to drive her back. Emma explained to the mechanic what had happened and he told her that he would have a look at the car and phone her to let her know when the car would be ready. Emma hoped that it would only take a day to fix her car so she could get as far away from Storybrooke as possible.

* * *

Emma was sat alone in her room, whilst looking at an old file, a very old file, with worn edges and faded print, that she always carried with her even though she had found no new evidence in years, she started day dreaming about what would happen if she solved this case when the sound of her phone ringing snapped her back to reality 'Hello'

'I have some bad news...it's going to be a few weeks until I can fix your car, I've ordered the parts that I need but they have none at the warehouse and are waiting for the delivery'

'Is there nothing you can do to speed it up a bit' Emma questioned hopefully

'I'm afraid not Miss Swan, I will do my best to fix it quickly but I can't make any promises'. Great that was all Emma needed, she just wanted to get out of this town and start another job that actually wasn't a dead end.

Later that day Emma had fell asleep, and found herself dreaming about a little boy. Henry. For some reason she seemed to recognise him from days gone by. In the dream they were walking through a forest together, laughing and joking but then the scene changed Henry was still there but so was someone from Emma's past, someone from years ago who she never wanted to see again, she didn't even want to think his name. Suddenly smoke surrounded Emma and she found herself in front of the Mills house with people she didn't recognise, arguing with Regina, she could hear no sound but could see the expressions on their faces and then what looked like Regina using magic. Emma awoke in a sweat 'what the hell was that?' she asked herself then looked at the clock 8.15pm. Too early to go back to sleep so she decided that a strong drink was in order.

'Hey Ruby' she called as she walked down the stairs

'Yeah? Is everything okay?'

'Everything's fine but is there somewhere around here where I can get a drink' Ruby smiled

'Turn left and walk straight until you get to the hiking trail in the woods, follow the trail for about...roughly five minutes and you'll come to a kind of fork in the road, you'll want to turn left'

'That sounds like an awful lot of work to just get a drink'

'Trust me you'll like it there, there's normally only a small crowd in there so it won't be too rowdy. Have fun' Ruby smirked

'Thanks Ruby'

So Emma begrudgingly followed Ruby's instructions and found the fork in the road, looking left, she couldn't see anything in the near distance, so thought about heading back but something inside her told her to take a chance. On she walked following the path until she saw a bright light ahead which was illuminating sign below it that welcomed people to 'The White Swan'.

This must be it, thought Emma as she pushed open the door, and inside it had the feel of an old tavern with the decor. Looking around she saw there was a group of men playing darts and clearly drinking to get drunk, a few people seemed to be drinking on their own and then she noted that the majority of the patrons that night where women who were all fake laughing and flicking their hair by the bar, clearly trying to attract someone's attention. Emma walked up to the bar and waited for someone to come and take her drink order, she sat down on a stool furthest away from the noisy group of women when she felt someone come up behind her

'Hi there'

'Hi' she said turning away from the man

'Names Tom'

'Emma' she told him with disinterest

'Come on love, why don't we get out of here, go back to my place, I'll show you a good time'

'Not interested'

'Come on' he said grabbing her arm forcefully

'I believe she said she's not interested! Now I suggest you get out' the bartender told him and pushed him towards the door

'Thanks for that but I could have handled him' Emma told the bartender as he walked back towards her

'I don't doubt it' he said walking behind the bar, pouring her a drink 'Here on the house'

'You don't need to do that' Emma protested

'I know but I want to' he smiled

'Are you sure, cause your other customers don't seem too happy that you're talking to me and not them' Emma laughed lightly indicating to the group of women that were now sending daggers her way, she understood why as there was literally no other way to describe him than tall, dark and handsome.

'You don't remember me do you?'

'Should I?' Emma asked

'Jack. You owe me a coffee remember'

'Right, well I think you'll find you owe me a shirt' Emma smiled

'How about another drink on the house and we call it even?' he held his hand out to Emma and who shook it and replied

'Deal'

* * *

Emma finished her drink and watched Jack clean up after his customers, it was then that she noticed that he was favouring his right hand, not just favouring it really as he didn't appear to be using his left hand at all.

'You can ask if you want' Jack called as he started placing the chairs on top of the tables, it was only the two of them that were still there, the pub had closed nearly an hour ago.

Emma blushed and realised that he had seen her staring at his hand 'No, I'm sorry it's none of my business'

'It's fine really.' He told her taking the seat next to her and pulling up his left sleeve. 'Prosthetic hand. I was born without my left hand, I'm not sure why, I don't think the doctors ever fully explained it to my mom. It used to bother me to see people staring at me like I was a freak when I was a kid but now everyone in this town is used to it and I don't really notice if they are staring'

'Does it hurt?' Emma whispered

'Nah don't even feel like anything's missing really, guess you can't miss what you never had' Jack smiled which caused Emma to relax

'I should really go, I only came out for one drink' Emma told him as she put her jacket on

'I'll walk you back'

'There's no need'

'It's not safe to walk at night on your own, especially in the forest so for my peace of mind, let me?' Jack insisted

'Okay fine, if it will make you feel better' Jack smiled at her and held the door open for her. Emma was shocked, she wasn't used to men these days acting like gentlemen and she never thought that someone as good looking as Jack would be. Looking at him, you would instantly think he would be a cocky bad boy but first impressions can be wrong. 'How long have you lived here?' she asked as they were walking along the trail

'All my life, I've never even left Storybrooke'

'Really how come?'

'I've never really wanted to. I love it here. I love my bar. It's pretty great'

'I wish I had somewhere like that. I've always moved around and never really had a place that felt like home, that felt like I belonged' Emma told him

'Well maybe you've found that place. Maybe this is where you belong' Emma looked at him with scepticism 'I'm just saying, I wouldn't object to you staying' Jack smirked flirtatiously

'I'm sure you wouldn't' They carried on talking the whole way back, Emma couldn't remember the last time she had spoken so openly about herself to anyone, let alone a guy she had just met.

'Come by the bar again soon okay'

'I'll see what I can do' she smiled before heading to her room in Granny's. That night Emma's dreams seemed to be focused around one man in particular Jack. And on the other side of town, Jack lay in his own bed dreaming about a certain blonde in a red jacket.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day as Emma was relaxing and trying to get some reading done, a knock at the door disturbed her when she opened it Emma found Regina Mills standing there smiling an unconvincing smile 'Morning Miss Swan, I just dropped by to see if you needed anything for your trip home'

'Actually I'm staying for a while' Emma told her and watched the smile fade from her face

'Excuse me?'

'There's a problem with my car and it's going to take a while to get fixed so it looks like I will be staying'

'Great, well I guess I will just see you around but let's hope your car gets fixed sooner eh' Regina exclaimed, sarcasm dripping off every syllable.

'Yeah let's hope' Emma smiled as she closed the door. There was something definitely not right about Regina Mills but she had no idea what.

Emma knew that it didn't matter to her what went on in this town or how strange some of the people act but it affected Henry and for some strange reason she felt a weird connection to the kid and wouldn't be able to just ignore what it going on around her no matter how much she tried. What was it about this town that made her want to stay here? She had never felt like she belonged anywhere before but maybe Jack was right, should she give this place a chance?

* * *

'HEY EMMA!' yelled Henry as he ran towards her, she was currently sitting by the docks watching the ocean, she found that this was the place that she felt the most at ease whilst I Storybrooke. Henry sat down on the bench next to her, trying to catch his breath,

'Listen kid, I'm sorry I couldn't take the job but you've got to understand, it's a difficult situation'

'I know, it's not a big deal anyway, I kind of have something to confess to you'

'Go on'

'No, I don't think you're ready yet'

'What is with everyone in this town being so cryptic?' Emma couldn't contain her frustration any longer

'I broke your car' Henry mumbled

'WHAT?!'

'I just wanted you to stay in town for a while longer, maybe you'll like it here'

'Henry, listen to me. I'm just a stranger passing through.' Emma wanted to wring his neck but she recognised the look in his eyes, loneliness, it was the same look she used to have when she just wanted someone to talk to 'Is that what you thought you couldn't tell me?'

'No there was something else. And what if you're not just a stranger passing through?'

'Kid...'

'No, I know who you are, I know that you didn't have your parents around growing up'

Emma stood up shocked and started pacing back and forth 'How do you know that kid? Is there some Emma Swan newsletter that I don't know about?'

'See I told you that you wasn't ready' Henry laughed

'What is that thing you're holding anyway?' Emma asked pulling a large brown book out of his hands and flicking through it 'Fairy tales?'

'No not fairy tales. True stories. The Evil Queen cast a curse and sent all the people here but they don't remember who they are or what happened to them.' Emma looked down at Henry and could see in his eyes that he truly believed what he was saying

'You've got some serious issues kid' she said closing the book and placing it on the bench next to Henry

'You'll believe me in time'

'How are you so sure?'

'Because you're in it. You're the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming' Henry stated. 'I've got to go but read it, you'll see' he shouted running off. Emma didn't have chance to argue so she sat back down and started skimming the book reading the stories but these were definitely not the fairy tales she was used to.

* * *

Two days had passed and Emma had not left her room once, she knew that she would have to speak to Henry at some point but she didn't know what she was going to say to him. Emma knew how important it was for children to have something to believe in but could she really encourage him to believe that these fairy tales were real? Emma knew that she couldn't put it off any longer, so grabbed Henry's book and walked towards his house, hoping that his mother wasn't at home.

'Emma! What are you doing here?' Henry asked, a large smile on his face when he saw her in front of him

'Returning your book' Emma said passing it to him 'Is your mom here?'

'No she's at a meeting, come in' Emma debated with herself whether this was a good idea 'Please?'

'Only for a minute'

'So did you read it?' Henry asked excitedly

'Bits of it, yeah'

'So you believe me that they are real'

'Henry, I believe that you want them to be real and that's okay but not everyone will agree with you...listen I'm sorry kid I've got to go'

Emma was already out the door when Henry shouted 'EMMA WAIT' Henry ran after Emma, following her down the garden path 'YOU'RE MY MOM!'

Emma froze, those three words repeating themselves in her head, she slowly made her body turn around and face Henry 'Come again?'

'You're my mom Emma'

'That's not funny Henry'

'Did you give a baby boy up for adoption 9 years ago?' Emma's gaze met Henry's and she saw the pain in his eyes

'How did you...?'

'How did I know that? Because that was me Emma, I was the baby you gave up'

'Then why did you hire me?'

'It was the only way that I could think of getting you here, I needed to see you. I needed to tell you in person'

Emma was speechless, she didn't know what to say, and this couldn't be true could it? She had asked for a closed adoption, how could this be happening. She couldn't deny that she had felt a connection to Henry and looking at him now, she could kind of see a small resemblance but he had a life here, she knew what she was giving up when she sent him away.

'Emma are you going to say something?'

'I'm sorry kid, this is just all too much'

'Miss Swan, here again I see' Regina commented walking up the driveway to stand by Henry and pulling him close to her side 'What brings you here this time?'

'I found my real mom!' Henry excalimed

'I thought we agreed that you wouldn't take the case!' snapped Regina looking from Henry to Emma

'I didn't' Emma tried defending herself

'Then how?'

'She's my mom...Emma is my birth mom'

'Henry go upstairs!' Regina told him so he ran as fast as he could knowing that he was in enough trouble as it was 'Is that why you came to Storybrooke then, to meet your son?' Regina began walking towards Emma trying to intimidate her.

'I had no idea, he just told me before you arrived'

'You do remember that you asked for a closed adoption, so you have no rights to him, so it's probably in your best interest for you to leave town'

'Is that a threat?'

'Of course not, if it was a threat my dear you would know about it'

'You know what I think I'm going to stick around a while longer' Emma stated, wiping that smug smirk off Regina's face

'Are you sure that's wise Miss Swan?'

'Positive'.


End file.
